The training is
nothing.
The will is everything.
(Batman Begins)
Is tai chi self
defence?
Not necessarily - it depends on
how you practice it.
(i) Health-only
Many tai chi students simply train the art for
health.
Self defence is not a consideration and their training reflects this.
There is a world of difference between
training tai chi for health and
training it for self defence.
(ii) Martial art
Tai chi is a
martial art and a martial art is not
always trained for self
defence.
Learning a martial art is about
technical skill, physics, positioning and
strategy.
Students explore applications in a stylised, controlled manner.
(iii) Self defence
Self defence is concerned with escaping from danger.
Unpredictability, surprise, spontaneity and overwhelming odds are the
order of the day.
Expect your opponent to be armed and to have friends.
There is no opportunity in self defence for stylised or exaggerated
movement.
Only the instinctive, immediate, effective responses to attack are
relevant in self defence.
Anything else will fail.
Self defence is not about
learning 'tips & pointers'.
It is about conditioning your body to combat and becoming seasoned to
assault.
Bridging the gap
You may be skilled at pushing hands and form, but can you deal
with an earnest attacker?
Our school has a number of excellent training methods for
helping students take their tai chi into self defence.
These methods take the controlled classroom exercises into increasingly
unpredictable circumstances.
Clarity of spirit
Thought is the enemy of action and ruins self defence.
Only through
habitual reflex response can a person
hope to respond to an assault effectively.
When you are attacked, the tai chi must come forth - expressed with
shen.
The one thing that will serve you in self
defence is the
will not to be beaten into the ground, stabbed, burned,
raped or otherwise injured.
You must also be calm and composed.
Exuberant play
Self defence training must be akin to
'play
fighting' so that you can remain relaxed and emotionally balanced at all
times.
When you
play
exuberantly, you don't take things too seriously.
You try less and you yield more - your body lets go and you can release energy.
Also, if your responses are not premeditated, you have a chance of using them in
reality.
A tai chi self defence class must be a safe environment in which to express
yourself naturally and easily.
It must be a place where you
discover yourself and find out
what works for you.
You also find out what is stupid and what will get you beaten up.
More...
Page created 2 July 2000